Bodyful Episode #22: Jasmin Cage on the Power of the Subconscious

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By Valerie Martin

In 2018, I went to a hypnotherapy training near Seattle. It was not your traditional therapy training— there were maybe about 30 of us staying at essentially a large cabin in the woods for about 6 days, sharing a room with 3 random strangers.

One of my roommates, Jasmin Cage, happened to be from Memphis, just a couple hours down the road from me in Nashville— and we hit it off instantly. Both yoga teachers, both vegan (for the animals and other reasons), both Enneagram 7 squirrel-brains. 😝

I’d always regretted not staying in touch with Jasmin after the training… one of those things where, after a few months had passe, I felt like I’d missed the window. Wouldn’t it be “weird” to reach out a year, 2 years later? Would she even remember me? But 4 years after that training, this August, Jasmin popped into my inbox with the gift of reconnecting AND reminding me an important lesson that avoiding doing something based mostly in worrying about what other people might think is just plain SILLY.

In this conversation, Jasmin and I shared our candid thoughts on hypnosis/hypnotherapy, the yoga world, and got into a nuanced discussion of drinking culture, sobriety (including her new project Sobrietree), and… well, we had so much to cover that we’re planning to do a part 2, coming soon!

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Jasmin (she/her)

Jasmin Cage is a Memphis, Tennessee-based fine artist and RYT-200 (soon to be 500) yoga instructor. She is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, Heart-Centered Hypnotherapist, and a Certified Y12SR practitioner (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery). Jasmin currently teaches yoga, breathwork, and meditative practices at Lakeside Behavioral Health Systems- a network of inpatient psychiatric facilities in west Tennessee. She recently launched Sobrietree, a project incorporating yoga, art, and spoken word.

You can find out more about Jasmin and her work at jasmincageart.com and on Instagram @sobrietree.

Stuff Mentioned + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #21 (Solo): What does Trauma-Informed & Culturally Humble Yoga Look Like?

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By Valerie Martin

I recently had a student in a yoga class ask me “what exactly is trauma-informed yoga?” For the long answer, see the research paper I wrote back in 2016— but for a shorter answer, I created this solo episode that’s relevant for students and teachers alike.

Also, the subject of cultural humility (vs cultural appropriation) in yoga has become so intertwined for me with trauma-informed principles, because they’re both about HONORING: honoring the autonomy of each student, and honoring the wider purpose of yoga and its lineage. So we’re talking both subjects in this episode.

As per usual in my solo episodes, I’m talking off the cuff while walking outside, so this lil 30-minute episode is far from comprehensive. But if you have questions, feel free to leave a comment here, send me a DM, or email me— I’d love to hear what resonates, what your experience with these subjects is, and as always, anything else you’d like to hear me talk about on the pod. And hopefully some of the resources below will be helpful to dig in further!

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Resources for Trauma-Informed + Culturally Humble Yoga


Additional Links + Resources

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Bodyful Episode #20: Shea Rose on Fully Embodying Your Voice

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By Valerie Martin

Shea Rose (she/her) is one of those rare humans who is both incredibly multifaceted and genuinely DEEP in all of those facets— like a shimmering emerald that catches the light from every direction.

She is a musician, an activist, an educator, a healer— and she brings such richness into all of these capacities after having journeyed her own path from trauma to healing in ways deepened all aspects of her voice: inner voice, physical voice, and written voice.

In this conversation, Shea and I explore the power of the voice, how we can start to find our voice when it feels suppressed or small, and how we can use movement and sound to access our fullest and truest self expression.

If you’re a musician or creative of some kind, you’ll especially resonate with this one (no pun intended 🤓) but even folks who don’t strongly identify as creative will still find so much value and depth in Shea’s wisdom.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Shea Rose (she/her)

Shea Rose is a multipassionate musician, activist, healer, and curator. Her music is influenced by soul, hip-hop, rock, and folk, and speaks to identity, self-acceptance, and transformation. She was a recipient of the prestigious Abe Olman Scholarship from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, has won a Boston Music Award and a SESAC National Performance Activity Award, and was a featured songwriter and performer on two Grammy Award-winning jazz albums.

Shea partners with local, national, and international organizations and has worked with over 30 community groups, charitable and nonprofit organizations in Boston and worldwide. Her collaborations include live and in-studio performances, event curation, and workshop facilitation.

Shea served as an AmeriCorps State and National program volunteer for three years and is the recipient of the Berklee College of Music, Walter W. Harp Liberal Arts Music and Society Award for her demonstration of outstanding achievement in research, civic engagement, and performance relating to music and society.

Shea also offers holistic healing and empowerment services including Embodied Voice coaching. Her work is rooted in an Afrocentric worldview, which values song as a functional tool for engaging in daily life and expression of the full range of our emotional and spiritual experiences. She also integrates yoga philosophy, asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), and yogic sound into her healing work.

You can find out more about Shea and her offerings at shearose.com and on Instagram @shearose.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful #16: Solo Episode on Nervous System Regulation

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By Valerie Martin

I've had a bad case of Life Getting in the Way recently— which has involved some amazing trips and experiences, but I'm eager to get back to a biweekly routine with the podcast!

My next guest interview was gracious about rescheduling when I got unexpectedly stuck in New York, so that episode will release in two weeks. 

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share a solo episode with a primer on self-regulation via working directly with the nervous system— why we should know about it and how we can do it, with a few of my go-to tools.

I hope you find this episode helpful, and I'd love to know if there are topics you'd like to see covered on future solo episodes, and/or guest recommendations for the show. (Comment on this post or email me at valerie@gaiacenter.co !

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Links + Additional Resources:

  • Nadi Shodhana pranayama - alternate nostril breathing video demonstration

  • Andrew Huberman - short video explaining the “physiological sigh” and a full episode of his pod that details more on this and other strategies

  • Faster EFT - video explanation and demonstration

    • Melissa Tiers - the person who convinced me of the power of faster EFT!

  • Legs of the Wall / Viparita Karani video demonstration

Bodyful Episode #12: Jill Dunkley on Being in Right Relationship with the World Inside & Outside

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by Valerie Martin

I am not a naturally “calm” person, and it’s not often that I meet someone who instantly makes me feel calm in their presence. But when I met Jill Dunkley in 2019, that’s absolutely how I felt.

Jill is grounded, real, warm, kind, smart, and wise, and I’m grateful to call her a friend.

In this conversation, Jill and I explore:

  • what it means to be in right relationship both inside and outside ourselves

  • how trauma-informed practices and ecopsychology can support us in developing those capacities

  • the relationship between our individual healing and our commitments to the work of decolonizing

Learn more about Jill’s current and upcoming offerings on her website here.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Jill Dunkley (she/her)

Jill Dunkley lives on unceded Algonquin Land in rural Eastern Ontario with her husband, ecopsychologist, Andy Fisher.  For most of her adult life she has explored the question “what does it mean to be in right relationship with the world inside of me and the world outside of me?”  Now in late adulthood, she currently lives with that question at the intersection of trauma-aware mindfulness, yoga that adapts to the needs of the individual, and the earth. Jill is also a certified yoga therapist and mindfulness instructor and has found many great insights about her questions in the field of radical ecopsychology.

 

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #09: Dr. Rachel Allyn Reminds Us that Pleasure is Ours to Claim

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by Valerie Martin

Pleasure is not just a sex-positive buzzword or a euphoric state to chase sometimes— it is essential to our humanity. When we prioritize pleasure, we connect back to the truest version of ourselves.

In this conversation with Dr. Rachel Allyn, holistic clinical psychologist and author of the recently released book. The Pleasure Is All Yours, we chat the power and importance of pleasure, WTF “bodyfulness” really means, and why it matters.

Pleasure is most often associated with sex— and while sex is important, pleasure is SO much more than just that. It’s one of the fundamental aspects of being fully alive in the time we are given in these beautiful, messy, awkward, miraculous flesh suits.

The full spectrum of life includes the capacity for both tremendous pain AND tremendous pleasure— and learning how to make space for both to coexist is a necessary piece of feeling the truth of our own aliveness, instead of always feeling removed from our experience or seeking to fill the good ole Bottomless Pit of Despair. While the experience of pleasure may seem fleeting, cultivating moments of pleasure can compound into deeper, lasting states of joy and contentment.

For many of us, we’ve spent so much time being conditioned into how we’re “supposed” to think, feel, and act that we’ve forgotten what it feels like to trust the knowing of our own body. This leaves us feeling a disconnect, both with ourselves and with others.

Through Dr. Allyn’s bodyfulness framework that she shares in her book (this conversation is just a teaser!), readers can learn to reconnect to their bodies, their hearts, and release internalized shame and conditioning.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Dr. Rachel Allyn (she/her)

Rachel Allyn, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified yoga instructor, public speaker, and relationship columnist. She is the founder of YogaPsych, PLLC, a psychotherapy practice for adults that blends Western medicine with Eastern philosophy, and connects the mind with the body. She has been in private practice for almost fifteen years working with individuals and couples dealing with sexuality, intimacy, and relationship problems as well as trauma, depression, anxiety, and loss. She’s been quoted in books and magazines including Yoga Journal, Women’s Health, Outside, Good Housekeeping, and Cosmopolitan.

Links + Additional Resources: